


pancake batter

by pinkmanite2 (Pinkmanite)



Series: we make it work. [1]
Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Canon Compliant, Drabble, M/M, angst? kind of?, can be read as standalone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-01
Updated: 2018-06-01
Packaged: 2019-05-16 19:55:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14817863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pinkmanite/pseuds/pinkmanite2
Summary: It’s nice, this little bubble they’ve built, headquartered in Ryan’s Lincoln Park condo, hissummercondo, playing house like they can do this forever.





	pancake batter

The first time that Vinnie makes pancakes, he’s fucking pumped.

But it’s kind of shitty because pretty much everyone he tells is genuinely surprised (shocked, really). Half of his friends don’t believe that he really did make them himself, another half won’t take up his offer for him to cook some up for them. So really he only gets to make them for Ryan, who is at least amused enough to entertain him. 

Like, look. It’s not like he’s a complete lost cause. Yeah, there was that incident with the dishwasher (fuck Ryan and his stupid green dishwashing soap and green dish _washer_ soap), and that one time he set off the fire alarm because he didn’t know about the vent button thing, but hey, nobody’s perfect.

But these pancakes sure are.

Not like he’s biased or anything.

Ryan’s still asleep, snoring like the asshole he is, so Vinnie lets him sleep in, lets him collect as much beautyrest as he can get. Ryan’s got a nice set up at his place, a full kitchen with cast iron skillets and those matching green pots that his mom loves. The patio is almost done, too, and Ryan’s already been planning all the things he wants to grill all summer long.

It’s nice, this little bubble they’ve built, headquartered in Ryan’s Lincoln Park condo, his _summer_ condo, playing house like they can do this forever.

But it’s shitty, a real vibe-killer, thinking about their borrowed time, so Vinnie busies himself with making his goddamn pancakes.

It’s a good distraction, he needs to really focus when he cooks, so it’s not long before he’s forgotten all about it and reverted back to happily mixing up the batter.

Once ready, Vinnie turns on the vent first (maybe partially traumatized), and grabs the first pan he sees, throwing it onto the fire. He’s about to ladle the batter, almost forgets to butter the pan first, but remembers at the last second, catching himself right before it drips.

He doesn’t beat himself up about it, is actually kind of proud himself for noticing. So maybe he’s smiling by himself like a dork, flipping little round pancakes with his Apple Music playing softly in the background. Maybe he’s swinging his hips a little in time with the beat, maybe mumbling along to the lyrics that he doesn’t actually know.

It's the kind of things that Vinnie would never admit, even when Ryan comes up behind him right then and rests his chin on his shoulder, sleepy and warm. Vinnie startles at first, almost drops a pancake, but catches it at the last second.

He leans up, craning his neck until he can see Ryan, until he can try to glare at him, but ends up laughing instead.

Ryan’s hair is a mess, sticking up in weird places, falling into his eyes. But it’s a good look on him, if only because it’s a look that only Vinnie gets to see, hidden from the rest of the world. Ryan would probably die from embarrassment before he’d let his bed head leave the house.

But yet, he’s somehow okay to leave it for Vinnie, trusts him enough with this little piece of himself. And Vinnie knows this, of course, and god, it does something for him, swells his heart and makes him feel things he doesn’t even have a name for.

“What’s for breakfast?” Ryan mumbles, pressing closer to Vinnie, tucks his face into his neck. He kisses the skin there once, chaste and quick, but it still makes Vinnie’s breath catch, still makes him pause.

“You’ve got eyes. And a nose,” Vinnie says, light. He leans into Ryan’s touch, even as he flips another pancake.

Ryan just grins. “Are pancakes in your diet plan? Because I don’t even know what’s in mine but I don't think they are.”

“Nah,” Vinnie shrugs, but careful not to jostle Ryan too much. “But it’s the only thing I know I can make, so you’re gonna sit at that table and eat them just because I made them.”

“Baby steps,” Ryan hums, “I’ll take it.”

“Good answer.”

“But can we also make like, eggs? Do you know how to make eggs?”

Vinnie makes a face, which probably gives him away immediately, but Ryan just laughs light and without malice, instead kisses the corner of Vinnie's lips until he gives in and relaxes, stops doing that stupid thing with his face.

“It’s okay, _I_ know how to make eggs,” Ryan murmurs against his Vinnie’s skin. “Teamwork right?”

And that’s—  _No_ , Vinnie thinks, he’s got to stop thinking like that. Not when the ticker on their time — on them — is steadily counting down. They’re here right now, and that’s what he’s got to focus on. So he does his best to smile, leans back into Ryan. Tries to commit the way he feels, the way he smells, the way he  _is_ , to his memory, a desperate attempt to hoard as many pieces of _them_ as he can. For when he knows he'll need them later, months and months from now when he's waking up in his own bed in his own lonely condo. 

Vinnie gets the last pancake off, switches off the burner, just so he can turn in Ryan’s hold until they’re face-to-face, noses almost touching.

“Yeah,” Vinnie murmurs against Ryan’s lips. “Teamwork. You and me.”

Ryan inhales just a little too sharply, so he must get it, too. But it’s unspoken, neither of them daring to pierce the surface of whatever it is they’ve got, whatever it is they’ve made here, whatever it is they’ve managed to cling to, despite everything else that's fallen apart around them.

But then Ryan closes the distance, kisses him like it could be the last, all passion, all _love_.

“You and me. Always.”

 

 

 

.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> the character development from vinnie "what is a dishwasher" hinostroza to vinnie "im a chef" hinostroza is remarkable
> 
> hit up the twitter yall: @[pinkmanite](https://twitter.com/pinkmanite)


End file.
